For much of the first half, although Plymouth Christian Academy enjoyed a 2-0 lead against Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest the Eagles missed some premium chances to blow the MIAC boys soccer game wide open.

Ultimately, those missed chances gave the Crusaders a fighting chance in the second half and they scored two late goals to force two 10-minute overtimes.

Lutheran Northwest went up by a goal in the first extra session, but PCA senior forward Lucas Albrecht — who had a goal and an assist in the first 40 minutes but also missed the cage on some top-drawer opportunities — had the chance to come through in the nick of time.

And Albrecht wasn't about to miss again. He took a nifty feed from sophomore forward Austin Andres (who teamed up with him on the goals in the first half), then moved into the 18-yard box in the Crusaders end.

Next, Albrecht twirled and booted the ball inside the far post past junior goalkeeper Soloman Spangler with 4:58 in the second overtime. That made it a 3-3 tie, which is how the match concluded.

"Austin had the ball in the middle, he got the ball from Brian (Schleintz)," Albrecht said. "It had happened a couple times and I missed the shot earlier, in the first half.

"So I knew it was coming, I shielded a guy off me, on my back, I just put it to my left and I put it far post where I knew the goalie wouldn't be."

He lamented missing similar chances earlier, however.

"Unfortunately, I waited too long to score that," Albrecht said. "Maybe if I had done it earlier it would have been a different outcome. But we came out with a tie, so it's not all bad."

PCA head coach Kris Warnemuende, whose team leads its division with a 8-1-0 record, said the tying goal demonstrated Albrecht's skills. The diminutive forward has 18 goals already this season and holds the school record for goals with 58, which he broke earlier this season.

"He has a great first touch," Warnemuende said. "He can turn on a dime, it's a lot of fun to watch."

The game was only about five minutes old when Albrecht put PCA on the scoreboard. He powered a 16-yarder inside the right post, again set up by Andres.

Then, with 7:05 to play in the half, Andres rushed into the box and while being knocked to the ground nudged the ball into the cage for a 2-0 lead.

The Crusaders (4-5-1) made some halftime adjustments, and there was a lot less room to roam for the Eagles in the second half.

Lutheran Northwest finally got on the board when senior Eric Drews deposited his own rebound behind PCA junior goalkeeper Nick Andres with 13:56 to play in regulation.

The equalizer came with 5:16 remaining. A ball lofted from the left flank by senior Nick Grunewald flew over Andres and Crusader freshman Trevor Butler flicked it in, as he stood almost on the goal line.

A hand ball in the box led to Lutheran Northwest's penalty kick goal in the first OT by senior Kahner James.

"We lost our (defensive) shape, and we weren't picking the guys up," Warnemuende said. So as they came through for the crosses they weren't marked.

"... It was a good wake-up call. The press, their team showed great poise on the field and that was good to challenge us to work a little harder in practice and in our next game."

PCA 2, INTER-CITY BAPTIST 1: Over the years, Allen Park Inter-City Baptist has been the kryptonite in stopping PCA's opportunity for a super season.

While they've managed to muster a few ties against their foe from Allen Park, PCA hasn't been victorious since 2007. That is, until the Eagles landed back on the Chargers' field last Friday for a key MIAC battle. Having just beaten the 7th-ranked Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett team 24 hours earlier, PCA had to face it's third opponent in four days by taking on the 5th-ranked Inter-City team.

Inter-City's speed, especially in the middle of the field, made it difficult for PCA to get its high-powered offense on track. Both teams were possessing a fairly equal amount when senior captain Lucas Albrecht, off a free kick from 25 yards out, buried a knuckling ball past the Inter-City goalie for a 1-0 lead.

Moments later, a PK was called following a Chargers corner kick and Junior Garrett Kraatz tied the score. With four minutes remaining in the first half, Albrecht received a great pass from Sophomore Ben Fuller; the ball popped out from a slide tackle and Albrecht one-timed it with his left for a 2-1 halftime score.

The second half consisted of high-drama and nail-biting by fans from both teams. It was apparent Inter-City didn't want to lose on their home field, attacking again and again.

PCA employs a 3-5-2 formation with three seniors on defense: Captain Giuseppe Iacopelli, Joey Fanelli and Torre Crown. They partnered with junior goalie Nick Andres to keep the Chargers at bay. It wasn't until time expired that the Eagles could celebrate a 2-1 victory and their fourth straight victory, moving to 7-1-0 overall.